January 27, 2009

Didn’t know why I watched this drama. It turns out to be pretty average actually. The story is about two bickering rivals who ended up as husband and wife. Things happen along the way to bring them closer together, and as it turns out, both of them are really talented barristers. As can be guessed, much of the saving grace (if any) of this show can be found in the courthouse. Amazing how these people can turn black into white and white into black in so many varied ways.

Anyway, this drama has a rather comedic feel thruout, and it started to get more serious towards the end, escalating to a direct confrontation with the imperial court, against Emperor Qianlong himself. It was still ok until this point, afterwhich it got ridiculous with a lil trip to the high heavens…

I just kinda feel this sort of show has alot of potential, which this particular one did not exactly bring out. Hope for a better one next time!

January 21, 2009

Well this came a little too late, but anyhow, the continuation from part 1 of the movie which had screened earlier. This was the thing itself, the naval battle which the title of said movie is based on. (The first part laid all the groundworks and build up the tension ya)

The battle itself was a brutal massive sight of carnage. It was one of the most terrible way to die. Soldiers donning armor will be seared by the onslaught of inferno, and those who take it off were not spared by flaming arrows as well. Jumping into the sea well… with all your equipment is rather a suicidal course… At the end of the day, what is shown on screen is already less impactful than what the real thing would be like. After all, the end result was an overwhelming victory for the allied forces of Shu and Wu, depending on whether its 三国志 or 三国演义, they were going against an army from about 4, 5 times to 16 times (the version the movie used) their combined strength of 50,000.

In terms of the overall value of the film, I say that it is a rather enjoyable show to catch. You can witness how battles are fought back then. Much of the work is done before battles and those are often the deciding factors of the outcome. Actually in those times the actual numbers of the army has alot less significance, which is rather not shown over here. Because not everyone can engage the enemies at one time, and the fact that not all units are trained to the same standard, the most crucial clashes between the vanguards is almost the trigger for the entire battle. Once that falls, retreat is often the way if possible. Alas this was not part of the movie unfortunately! I suppose that the length is long enough to be stretched over 2 parts and they didn’t need to stick so true to the history.

Speaking of that, the part about Huang Gai being flogged by Zhou Yu is rather true. But again it did not materialise in the movie. Not sure whether its the novel or history or perhaps true for both, Huang Gai did indeed feigned surrender to Cao Cao, and it was his vessel that first smashed into the defensive line, setting it ablaze. Other things missing is the character of Pang Tong, the so crucial element that convinced the chaining of the ships, an espionage tactic by Shu; And the retreat of Cao Cao along Hua Rong Trail, correspondingly the ambushes set up by Zhuge Liang. Well, I suppose the film do not intend to glorify Zhuge Liang to a godly extent like in the novel.

No complaints there though 😀 Good enough for an epic film of a huge budget (in the chinese film industry). Oh yea, some people commented why there were so many comedic moments, which doesn’t look like a war movie… Chill, it makes you laugh, and it lightens the mood. You really don’t wanna look back on the entire thing and remember only the merciless nature of battle.

January 16, 2009

Yosh! It is the start of another uni semester for me. I need to rediscover the passion and drive before its too late. Unfortunately, most of the modules I’m taking this sem still falls into the necessity category, so here’s hoping I will end up with respectable grades in those. As for what I’m doing this sem, here is da list.

This semester had more of a varied experience for me. Starting with ACC2002, I really dread it because most peers had already completed the course and not many familiar faces are to be expected in the class, even more so for tutorials. Being a rather dry subject, this doesn’t bode well at all… boredom awaits.

BSP2005 saw me having a Bangladeshi lecturer. Hey… he is quite fashionable, and younger than I would expect. The shock came when we knew he watched 天龙八部. Now that is refreshing. He comes across as a cool friendly person (though my initial impression was pretty bad when he uploaded a secured pdf with black background for lecture slides).

DSC3203 is my first step into my first specialization. And it is my first nus module being conducted as a sectional class. 3 hours is really really painful, but there are interesting stuffs and insights to be learnt. One of the lecturers tried hard to be less boring, but well, we will see. And he also insisted he has a very mild temper, and we can try punching him to find out! WTF lolz… Something different is that this is supposed to be kind of an open environment (but not many people speaking up yet).

ES2002 is the one bugging me the most now. Simply because the workload appears to be supremely heavy. No doubting the potential benefits it can provide in the future, but I’ve heard stories about the devotion and spiritual willpower required to emerge victorious in a sustained war against the throngs of work. Well well, the class size so far is a puny 14, hopefully to increase.

Finally the wildcard, ST2131. Why am I even taking this? A struggle for grades against supposedly better peers from certain nations. For the sake of my minor pursuit, I endure. And who is to say I cannot excel here? I have been laying pretty dormant haven’t I? But I’m not sure I will find the will to start my engine, just yet. Oh on a side note, we have a Greek lecturer teaching this mod in nus for the first time. Hoorah. Funny at times, but it takes a great deal of effort to deal with that accent.

Tralala… I am supposed to start working hard today, but… but… you all know what happened, heh.

January 10, 2009

Went out with moi jc clique yesterday. Our first objective of the day was to attack a buffet. Specifically, we had decided on Sushi Kikuzawa at International Building. It was like a sushi buffet, and I had never eaten that amount of sushi in 1 day before I reckon. Let me try to recap what we ate. An appetiser starters, 1 set of fresh sashimi, over 20 types of sushi each, a bowl of wadever with diced chicken, tau pok and radish, 2 very nice bowl of chawan-mushi, 2 handrolls, some takoyaki, a bowl of miso, and finally puddings. Unfortunately, each person is only limited to 2 puddings. Boss seems to be not full yet. I can’t eat more before I think the amount of rice is too much for me to carry on… must have super low favor towards rice 😀

After the super heavy meal which lasted like 2.5 hours, we made our way towards Cineleisure. Our second objective of the day was to watch Red Cliff Part 2. Alas along the way we were approached by 2 enthusiastic sales guy. What were they selling? Notebooks, the paper kind. What was the price? You name it yourself. What was the purpose? To support people in need of jobs in this time of financial downturn. I and my buddies already repeatedly announced no intention of purchasing the notebooks which we have no use for. I was more irritated when one of them used me as an example, supposing that I had to resort to selling pirated vcds to make a living, how would my friends feel. I was downright disgusted by that, not only by the illegal nature of it but the difference in class. If I had to stoop to that, half of the nation is selling pirated vcds. Bummer…

Lets ignore that unpleasant experience and carry on to Cineleisure, where we jalan-jalan abit since the time of the movie screening is not up yet. After Red Cliff 2 was dinner and home sweet home.

January 5, 2009

Just have this urge to share a Cantonese song by Kay Tse. This song swept many awards across Hong Kong radio stations and music channels recently. The more I listen to this, the more I fell in love with it. Hope she will have many more good years ahead

January 4, 2009

Wow this is an underrated and underappreciated series. Definitely inspired by the movie 无间道, thrown in with a little flair of 水浒传. Not much actually, but the importance lies in 武松 & 林冲 retaining memories of their past life, which will be a rather significant element in the plot, including the present life of 潘金莲. A look at the characters is obvious who the 3 people are. This ancient-modern link is the seperating feature from the movie of a similar name.

On the other hand, there are same striking similarities. A few scenes bring back nostalgic memories for me. Needless to say, undercover mole is a major part of the show. But please do not take anything away from this just because 无间道 was such a hit. Personally, I felt that this being a drama, has alot more scope and room for character development, especially in the female roles (which kinda are of minor importance in the movie). The complex inter-linked web of relationships between everyone in the show is also a huge plus, putting pressure on the characters in making choices. Early in the stage, u see internal conflicts in the police force and the triads, leading audiences on merry-go-rounds. There are also a couple of mega twists along the way that put me on the backseat, you know, the feeling of ‘I never thought it was gonna end up like that’. Shouldn’t say much more because the drama most deserved to be watched without prior knowledge of spoilers.

Disclaimer

Everything written in this blog is my and only my opinions on all sorts of stuff in my life. I do not presume them to be facts and you should not take for granted what I wrote as the undeniable truths.

No. of Lost Souls

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The Mirror of Truth

Just another insignificant speck of dust amidst the universe searching for a greater purpose in life. Currently in the hunt.